


How It All Began

by Cerdic519



Series: Sanditon, Or The Sorely-Tried Alpha [1]
Category: AUSTEN Jane - Works, Sanditon - Jane Austen, Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - 19th Century, Alternate Universe - Jane Austen Fusion, F/M, Illegitimacy, Inheritance, M/M, Omega Dean Winchester, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Surprises, Sussex, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 09:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15861210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerdic519/pseuds/Cerdic519
Summary: Who was who and what was what in 1807 - and there is a will.





	1. 1807 And All That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MelodyofWings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyofWings/gifts).



֍ The population of the United Kingdom is around 8 million people. London's population is just under 1 million, and even in the early days of the Industrial Revolution the northern towns are forging ahead; its nearest rivals are Manchester (90,000), Liverpool (80,000) and Birmingham (75,000). Next was Bristol at 64,000; half a century earlier it had been double the size of Birmingham.  
֍ King George the Third has been king for 47 years and, despite his monumental foul-up in losing the American colonies, is more fondly regarded than he probably deserves especially when the British look across the Channel to Republican France. There is also his terrible son and heir George Prince of Wales (soon to become the Prince Regent). The latter had been forced into a marriage with German princess Caroline of Brunswick; somehow they had managed one child (Princess Charlotte) before they had started living as far apart from each other as they could. The rest of the king's family was little better.... which was to prove unfortunate as things turned out.  
֍ The Swansea and Mumbles railway becomes the first passenger railway in the world, using horse-drawn coaches.  
֍ In recent years canals have slashed the costs for delivering coal to some communities.  
֍ Turnpike (toll) roads have made road travel possible if expensive. For those without their own carriages there were two main options: the regular stagecoach which averages 3 m.p.h. (i.e. about as fast as one could walk) or the faster yet infinitely less comfortable mail-coaches which averages 7 m.p.h. They achieve this by paying all the tolls beforehand and sacrificing any idea of comfort. Suspension is, sadly for Georgian behinds, in its infancy.  
֍ The Continent of Europe has been at war almost constantly since the French Revolution of 1789 and that country's declaration of war against its enemies in 1792. The French had pretty much won the French Revolutionary Wars when they had concluded in 1802, but Napoleon's greed had led the British to resume hostilities in 1803. His hopes of invading Great Britain had been ended by the overwhelming British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar two years back, and this year he launches some half a million men against mighty Russia. He initially succeeds in that under the peace treaty the Tsar declares war on the British, but Moscow actually does very little. This year also sees the British ending any hopes Napoleon may have had that year of help from Northern Europe by turning over the Danes for a second time at Copenhagen.  
֍ Great Britain abolishes the slave trade (law takes effect 1808; slavery itself will not be abolished until 1833). But those at the bottom of society still suffered, especially workers who were paid their wages in 'truck'. This meant that they only got a tiny cash amount and the rest in tokens which could only be spent at the company shop - where, surprise surprise, prices were always sky-high!  
֍ The Tory William Cavendish-Bentinck, better known as the Duke of Portland, wins the general election that year. He actually only wins 213 of the 658 seats available, but that is three more than the Whigs who lose half their former representation.  
֍ The last of the male line 'Jacobite' Stuarts dies. Henry Benedict Stuart had been proclaimed as 'Henry IX' on his elder brother Bonnie Prince Charlie's death nineteen years earlier although as a Cardinal in Rome he had never pushed his claim. He lost most of his money in the French Revolution and King George III, in a rare display of tactfulness, had been providing him with a pension in his latter years.  
֍ The Solar System acquires a new planet with the discovery of Vesta in between the orbits of Mars and Ceres. This makes a total of eleven as it joins Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Juno, Pallas, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.  
֍ Ludwig van Beethoven composes his _Mass in C_ and _Corional Overture_. The year also saw the first performance of his Fourth Symphony, written the year before.  
֍ Charles Lamb publishes _The Family Shakespeare_ , most likely written by his sister Henrietta. Shakespeare with all the rude bits taken out, it plumbs such depths of inanity that the verb 'to bowdlerize' enters the English language for such crimes against literature. A bit unfair on poor Thomas Bowdler who was just the editor.  
֍ Authoress Jane Austen is living in Southampton. She has so far written one book, _Lady Susan_ (unpublished). She seems to have liked the town and took many walks in the area, but did not write again until she moved to Chawton in northern Hampshire two years later.


	2. Box Clever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is the summer of 1807. Death is dead – well, Mr. De'Ath Parker is at least and his relatives gather for the reading of his will. There are one or two very slight surprises.....

Mr. Gawain Sawyer rather liked these moments. Indeed, his only regret, one that he felt quite often, was that as a solicitor he was not allowed to show any emotion. At least not on the day; if the beta enjoyed any celebratory drinks on evenings with his mate Christopher after such events then they were purely coincidental.

He had earlier sojourned around the small seaside resort to which he had come for the reading of his late client's will. Sanditon was what the newspapers would doubtless call 'a coming place', having been developed from a small inconsequential hamlet called Halsey on the turnpike road that connected Hailsham to the north to Beachy Head. And following the great British victory at Trafalgar two years back and Napoleon entangling himself in Iberian affairs, the threat of a French invasion¹ had receded which had doubtless helped the town's growth.

֍ΑΩ֎ΩΑ֍ΑΩ֎ΩΑ֍

Even with the large room that Mr. Sawyer had rented at Gray's Inn, things were crowded with all seven male Parkers there. Where there was money.....

“We are gathered here today”, the solicitor intoned, “for the reading of the last will and testament of Mr. De'Ath Julian Parker.

“De'Ath dies a death!” Gabriel Parker sniggered. Most of the others glared at him. The solicitor continued.

“Mr. Parker had three children by his marriage to Monseigneur Timothy Parker né Neill, to wit Mr. Charles here, Miss Elizabeth and Mr. Matthew. Miss Elizabeth married one Mr. Ion Faith; she was unable to bear children so they adopted a boy whom they named Inias. Mr. Matthew died without issue, although he was as you know married to Lady Rowena Denham who most generously took on the onerous responsibility of raising her nephew when his parents died.”

“Lucky he's an omega or he would have been husband number six!” Balthazar Parker muttered.

The solicitor chose not to hear him, instead reaching over and lifted a large cloth up from the middle of the table where it had been concealing a number of different-sized tin boxes. He may have enjoyed the looks of confusion from around the table a trifle more than was appropriate but he did not let it show. Or at least no-one noticed.

“Before he passed last year”, he said carefully, “Mr. and Monseigneur Parker arranged all this. They have allocated one box to each of you. They are numbered one to seven; I am to inform you beforehand that although the contents may seem strange there is an explanatory note for each one. Mr. Charles, you may now open box number one.”

Charles Parker looked warily at the boxes but reached forward and took the box indicated. He opened it and extracted a small key with a key-ring shaped like a book.

“To our son Charles Parker”, the solicitor intoned, “we leave both Halsey House in Sanditon and our collected works of Shakespeare, in the hope that the Bard's brilliance may improve some of the dreadful stories that his good lady wife is, for reasons best known to herself, wont to inflict on the undeserving general public.”

Mr. Sawyer was not surprised that none of the young men sniggered. Obviously they all knew that word would somehow get back to Mrs. Parker who, so his mate said, had a mean left hook and was not afraid to use it. 

“Mr. Michael, you may now open box number two.”

The thirty-year-old alpha looked warily at the box (the largest) that he had been allocated but opened it. He took out a small book and a rather cheap-looking black jar with a Greek design on the side.

“What on earth....?”

“To our grandson Michael Parker we leave a choice”, the solicitor intoned. “A jar for the cheap cigars that he is wont to smoke around the house in an effort to look mature, and a book on how to raise children. This latter may enable him to actually start playing a role in the raising of his offspring, especially as his good lady wife has now quitted him for the infinitely superior company of the choir invisible.”

Several of the other young Parkers did snigger at that. Even Mr. Charles Parker had to suppress a smile.

“Alternatively there is ten pounds sterling in cash”, the solicitor went on, “in which case the book and jar are bequeathed elsewhere.”

“The money!” the eldest Parker grandson said gruffly. 

The solicitor handed him a document to sign, then placed the book and jar to one side and waited until he had finished writing before handing him two five-pound notes.

“Mr. Gabriel, you may now open box number six.”

There were a few raised eyebrows that the fifth son was next but the twenty-four year-old beta reached eagerly forward to the third box.

“Not that heavy”, he frowned. “I think it's.... argghhh!”

He leapt back in shock as a colourful jack-in-the-box sprang out of the box at him. The solicitor only narrowly suppressed a smile.

“To our grandson Gabriel Parker we leave the knowledge that he is not the only person in the family fond of a good joke at someone else's expense!”

The dark-blond Parker scowled at both that and his laughing brothers.

“Mr. Balthazar, you may now open box number five.”

The twenty-five-year-old beta was much more wary in opening his box, making sure that he opened it pointing away from him. Nothing emerged from it so he put his hand in and extracted....

“Huh?”

“To our grandson Balthazar Parker we leave a book of matches because he always douses his body with cheap cologne, hence we both hope and pray that he may perchance ignite himself and thus spare the ladies and omegas of Sussex from his baleful and far too frequent attentions.”

The recipient of that particular bequest muttered something under his breath that the solicitor again chose not to hear.

“Mr. Raphael, you may now open box number four.”

The twenty-seven year-old beta looked warily at the box as if it might bite him but opened it. When nothing emerged he reached his hand in and felt around.

“It is empty!” he exclaimed. “Nothing but dirt.”

“To our grandson Raphael Parker we leave a quarter-pound of garden soil, as we are certain that this is the only way that he will ever make contact with Earth!”

Raphael Parker's father had to turn away to hide a smile. His brothers made no such effort.

“Mr. Lucifer, you may now open box number three.”

Michael Parker's alpha twin grinned wolfishly and opened his box. Reaching in he extracted a small glass pyramid.

“A glass ornament?” he said disappointedly. The solicitor smiled.

“The pyramid is a reference to the Battle of Aboukir Bay²”, he said. “To our grandson Lucifer Parker we leave Aboukir House in Sandover, Sussex, along with all our holdings in that village....”

“What?” Michael Parker yelled, rising to his feet. “I shall contest that!”

“...With the understanding that any person who _contests_ any part of this will must first lodge a bond of some one hundred guineas³, that sum to be paid to those whose inheritance is challenged if - and when - the contention is unsuccessful.”

Michael Parker scowled but sat down.

“Your turn, Cassie”, Gabriel Parker said, gesturing for the youngest family member to take the last box. His twenty-two year-old alpha brother swatted at him but opened the box to reveal... a purple shirt-button. He looked suitably perplexed.

“To our grandson Castiel Parker”, the solicitor intoned, “we leave our shop in Sanditon, namely Citadel Clothing, with all the contents and stock therein. This is because we know how much he hates dealing with those tiresome things called 'people'.”

The youngest Parker reddened at that. Several of his brothers sniggered at his discomfiture.

“But where is all the money?” Balthazar Parker demanded. “Grandfather was rolling in it, damn him!”

The solicitor winced at his coarseness.

“I am afraid that you may have been under something of a misapprehension as regards your late grandfather”, he said. “His private wealth, which I have distributed here, was what he had as a Parker. The bulk of his income actually came from his late mate, the former Mr. Neill. Upon _his_ death last year that money was placed into a trust fund from which his widower could only draw the interest, and the capital has now been allocated according to his own will.”

“To whom?” Michael Parker demanded angrily. “He cannot have willed it away to some distant cousin? Or given it to charity?”

“The will features three other bequests”, the solicitor said, “both for gentlemen who are not yet of age. Your grandparents felt that despite his not being a Parker, a certain amount should still be set aside for their grandson Mr. Inias Faith; naturally that can only be divulged to him personally when he comes of age. He also receives the book that Mr. Michael Parker did not want.”

The solicitor hesitated. All the Parkers looked shocked by his news.

“Your grandpapa had, I have to tell you, a relationship with a beta before he met your grandfather”, he said carefully. “In the way of these things he gave birth to a beta son. His first husband abandoned him before the birth, and he took the decision to have the boy raised in secret before returning to and marrying your grandfather, who remained in ignorance of the whole affair. When this beta grew up his papa came to have some concerns about his character but as he had married and had children of his own, he decided that the eldest of those sons, an omega, should be recognized in his will. He left that gentleman the Grecian urn should Mr. Michael Parker not wish it, a sum of money similar in size to that he left young Mr. Faith, and also the establishment known as Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe which adjoins the aforementioned Citadel Clothing.”

“And the rest of the loot?” Balthazar Parker asked. The solicitor winced again. 

“After those last two bequests, the remainder of the estate was willed to a London-based organization that campaigns for the omega franchise”, he said. 

He suppressed a smile as most of the Parkers fell to arguing with each other. Families were so predictable!

֍ΑΩ֎ΩΑ֍ΑΩ֎ΩΑ֍

The story of Sanditon continues in _The Honourable Member_. Mr. Castiel Parker has just about gotten over the shock of having to run a shop and deal with those people things – until fate throws him the ultimate in curve-balls!

֍ΑΩ֎ΩΑ֍ΑΩ֎ΩΑ֍

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) The long stretch of coastline east of Sandover was idea for any invasion fleet, and indeed was the site of the terrible Norman Invasion of 1066. The government had naturally closed this off to the public so there was a general deterrence to visit the area, but after Trafalgar a French invasion looked less likely.  
> 2) Also called the Battle of the Nile (1st-3rd August 1798). British commander Horatio Nelson scotched a French invasion of Egypt and the Middle East by taking on a French invasion fleet of the same size as his own. The French had thirteen ships of the line and four frigates; nine of the former were captured and two more destroyed along with two of the frigates. The British also had thirteen ships of the line and two smaller ships, and lost none of them. This gained control of the Mediterranean for the British which they retained for the rest of the war.  
> 3) A guinea was (and still is) 21 shillings or £1.05 ($1.40). It is today mostly used in the world of horse-racing. The modern equivalent in purchasing power of a hundred guineas would be around £100,000 ($130,000) at 2018 prices.


End file.
